8:00 am

Member Only Breakfast

8:50am

Welcome & Introduction

Speaker

Susan Weinstock, President & CEO
Consumer Federation of America

9:00am

Opening Address: Congressman Greg Casar

United States House of Representatives

9:30am

Why Does Everything Feel Like a Ripoff?

From scams to dark patterns, consumer manipulation is causing everyday economic pain. Panelists will discuss the various ways consumers are being taken advantage of. Panelists will also discuss how consumer deception shapes the choices consumers make, what consumers pay, and the trust they lose. How can advocates and regulators push back against the “scam economy” that is eroding consumer wellbeing?

Moderator

Herb Weisbaum, Contributing Editor
Checkbook.org

Panelists: CFA Issue Area Experts

Corey Frayer, Director of Investor Protection

Courtney Griffin, Director of Consumer Product Safety

Thomas Gremillion, Director of Food Policy

Karim Marshall, Director of Climate & Energy Policy

Emily Peterson-Cassin, Director of Competition & Marketplace Fairness

10:30am

Networking Break

10:45am

Tomato, Tomahto: Understanding Surveillance Pricing and Data-Driven Pricing

People feel tracked, and people feel like they’re being treated unfairly – unfortunately, both are true in the confusing world of data-driven pricing practices. Panelists will describe differences and similarities of the practices referred to as algorithmic pricing, surveillance pricing, personalized pricing, dynamic pricing, surge pricing, and why they all matter. Further, the panel will discuss how it’s affecting the prices for goods and services all throughout the economy while things are as unaffordable as ever. Lastly, the panelists will discuss the myriad of regulatory and legislative approaches that have been taken to address the issue in 2025 and 2026.

Moderator

Grace Gedye, Policy Analyst
Consumer Reports

Panelists

Emma Lurie, Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Pennsylvania

Rachel Lyons, Legislative Director
United Food & Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)

Thomas McBrian, Counsel
Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)

Marceline White, Executive Director
Economic Action Maryland

11:45am

Luncheon

12:30pm

Luncheon Address: Comptroller Brooke E. Lierman

Comptroller for the State of Maryland

1:00pm

Networking Break

1:15pm

Protecting Young Consumers from Predatory Fintech Practices

With the high cost of homeownership and post-secondary education, many young people feel anxious about their ability to achieve financial stability. In this environment, fintech companies actively take advantage of young people’s financial desperation to push risky products on them. Even those who are younger are vulnerable to exploitation, such as minors who purchase virtual currency on gaming platforms. Attend this panel to hear a discussion of the emerging dynamic in which some fintechs exploit audiences at the early stages of their financial journey.

Moderator

Adam Rust, Director of Financial Services
Consumer Federation of America

Panelists

Les Bernal, Executive Director
Stop Predatory Gambling

Elizabeth Bond, Visiting Tech Fellow
Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy

Aaron Stephens, Senior Legislative Strategist
P Street Project

2:15pm

REDLINED: Confronting Persistent Inequalities in Home Insurance Pricing in Communities of Color

Insurance provides essential protection for American homeowners and is a critical tool for community resilience, especially as climate change threatens more severe weather-related disasters. Coverage is also required of every homeowner with a mortgage. Forthcoming research by the Consumer Federation of America reveals that homeowners are charged significantly higher insurance premiums in America’s Hispanic and Black communities, even after controlling for risk differences. This means that our nation’s home insurance crisis is disproportionately impacting communities of color, and placing further strain on families’ ability to afford housing, to become homeowners, and build wealth. This panel will discuss the implications of the racial premium gap and consider public policy approaches to address the persistent redlining that continues to place barriers to sustainable home ownership in communities across the country.

Moderator

Douglas Heller, Director of Insurance
Consumer Federation of America

Data Presentation

Ethan Weiland, Research Associate
Consumer Federation of America

Panelists

Dorothy Andrews, Senior Behavioral Data Scientist and Actuary
National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s (NAIC)

Keisha Bross, Director – NAACP, Opportunity, Race and Justice
NAACP

Amy Nelson, Executive Director
Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI)

3:15pm

Networking Break

3:30pm

Between Renting and Owning: Cooperative and Shared-Equity Housing Models

As homeownership has grown increasingly out of reach for many families, new housing models are gaining attention that offer alternatives to either traditional renting or homeownership. These approaches – such as limited equity cooperatives, community land trusts, and shared equity homeownership – offer many of the benefits of owning a home, such as stability and resident control, while seeking to keep housing affordable for future generations too. This session will introduce these models in clear, accessible terms, with a focus on what makes them work for consumers. Panelists will explain how these approaches differ from both renting and homeownership, while also drawing distinctions from emerging for-profit investment products that are often marketed in similar terms, but carry few consumer protections and can be predatory. This panel will conclude by zooming in on key targets for federal and state-level consumer advocacy, including what advocates can do to better support these housing models in their own states.

Moderator

Brian Stromberg, former Social Science Analyst
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Panelists

Alys Cohen, Director of Federal Housing Advocacy
National Consumer Law Center

Peter Dean, Director of National Services
Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB)

Aaliyah Nedd, Director of Government Affairs
NCBA/CLUSA

4:30pm

Reception

6:00pm

Adjourn

8:00am

Breakfast Dialogue: Affordability in the States

Moderator

Susan Weinstock, President & CEO
Consumer Federation of America

Panelists

Michael Tiger, General Counsel
NYC DCWP

Kevin Vermillion, Director, Office of Consumer Protection
DC OAG

9:00am

Welcome

Speaker

Susan Weinstock, President & CEO
Consumer Federation of America

9:05am

Fireside Chat: Congresswoman Deborah Ross

United States House of Representatives

Moderator

Adam Rust, Financial Services Director
Consumer Federation of America

9:30am

Prediction Markets – Gambling with Consumer Protection

A panel of experts will discuss the rapidly growing business of prediction markets and the challenge they pose to federal and state regulators. The session will cover topics from preemption of state gaming laws and industry concentration; activities that already fall under the jurisdiction of the FTC, SEC and CFTC; as well as insider trading and ethics rules for senior government officials.

Panelists

Lydia Beyoud, Reporter
Bloomberg News

10:30am

Powering Fairness: Protecting Consumers in the Age of Volatile Energy Markets

As energy prices continue to fluctuate, driven by market deregulation, supply chain disruptions, extreme weather events, unprecedented demand from data centers, fossil fuel supply constraints, a slowdown in green energy deployment, and shifting federal policy, consumers across the income spectrum are facing mounting utility burdens with limited recourse. From natural gas shortages and greater capacity bottlenecks to stalled renewable energy projects and the uneven rollout of domestic energy production, supply side pressures are increasingly being passed down to households with little warning and even less protection as the promised cost benefits of the clean energy transition have been purposely delayed and disrupted questions of who bears the burden of energy production and who has shielded from it have become ever more urgent. This panel brings together voices from law, policy, advocacy, and industry to examine the state of consumer protection in the United States energy market and explore what stronger safeguards might look like.

Moderator

Karim Marshall, Director of Climate & Energy
Consumer Federation of America

Panelists

Ted Trabue Jr., Commissioner
Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia (DCPSC)

Jackie Wong, Senior Vice President, Climate & Energy
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)

Edward Yim, Director of Clean Energy
Lawyers for Good Government

11:30am

Perspectives on Private Credit

A dialogue with a former regulator and industry representative on the state of the private credit markets. The session will explore how private credit markets grew, their risks and benefits, the current state of the market, and how retirement savers should evaluate potential investment decisions.

Moderator

Corey Frayer, Director of Investor Protection
Consumer Federation of America

Panelists

William Birdthistle, Professor from Practice
University of Chicago Law School

12:15pm

Adjourn